My White Wine Sauce.

Looks a lot like it. But... I don't have a gas stove. Yet.

This sauce is in some of my upcoming recipes and is a versatile sauce. It's an excellent base sauce - you can add things like mushrooms, bacon, or both to it for something unique, and it stands quite well on it's own. I use it mostly for my herb stuffed chicken, but I also like to add a bit of cream to it for use in Chicken Cordon Bleu. Enjoy!

You'll need:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2/3 cup of chicken stock (keep another cup or so aside to replace while reducing.)
1/4 cup of white wine - doesn't matter what kind.
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. lime juice
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 tsp. chives, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
dash of salt and pepper

Melt butter in a pan. Add garlic, onion, and sugar and sauté until translucent (the sugar helps add caramelization to the onions.) Add all the remaining ingredients except the chives and and let simmer for awhile. As the moisture reduces, add a little more stock to bring it back to the desired amount. This will intensify the flavor.

Just before the sauce is ready to serve, turn up the heat to medium, and when it begins to bubble, add a mixture of one part cornstarch to three parts water, a little at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. Add the chives, remove from heat and let sit for a moment before serving.

Chicken Saltimbocca... my way.

Chicken Saltimbocca with tomato cream sauce on a bed of linguine.

Been awhile... up till now, I haven't posted much in the way of Italian cooking, mostly because I kinda keep the recipes close to the vest. But this one is a new one - and I absolutely love it. You will too.
Saltimbocca literally means "jumps in the mouth." The complex combination of flavors guarantees that.

You'll need:
6 chicken breasts, pounded even and flat (about 1/4 to 1/2")
6 slices smoked prosciutto
1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
6 large sage leaves
15 small sage leaves
2-3 Roma (plum) tomatoes
1/2 cup crushed tomato
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup white wine
5 roasted garlic cloves
juice of 1/2 lemon
1tbsp garlic butter (available at most grocery stores)
1 pkg thawed frozen spinach or bag of baby spinach leaves, stems cut off (I prefer leaves  - layers better)
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
sea salt
coarse ground black pepper

Also - Linguine.

In a small pan, heat olive oil. Once hot (but not to smoking) drop in all of the small sage leaves. They will flip on their own - don't fry them for longer than 1 minute. Remove leaves and place on a paper towel to drain.
Lay out the chicken breasts - one at a time or altogether, if you have the space. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper. On each breast place a slice of prosciutto. Place one large sage leaf on the prosciutto. Lay out a thin layer of spinach over the prosciutto, followed by the parmigiano. Roll each breast from the narrow end forward, jelly roll style, and secure with a toothpick.
Start a pot to boil for the pasta - remember to add salt.
Heat a large pan and add the olive oil (that you fried the sage leaves in) and the butter. Once hot, place the breasts in the pan, browning for 2-4 minutes on each side.
During this, take the bowl with the chopped tomatoes and press the roasted garlic cloves into them. Add the lemon juice as well and set it aside.
Add pasta to pot - cook to al dente - store in a colander over hot water in a covered pot.
After the chicken has browned, remove and set aside. Add wine to pan to deglaze. Once deglazed, add chicken broth, tomato mixture, and crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes, reducing mixture. Add cream, simmer for another ten minutes. add chicken and cook through - about another eight to ten minutes. While it cooks, constantly spoon sauce over chicken.
Place a bed of the linguine in a shallow pasta bowl. Place the saltimbocca on top, ladle on sauce, and garnish with fried sage leaves.

Main... Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin Roast with Bacon Gravy

The finished product, with herb roasted potatoes.

This recipe is loosely based on a couple of others. I'll also provide the herb roasted potato recipe, but that's another post. Note: I use a convection oven that has convection roast, but the recipe will use the same temperature. Just keep an eye on the bacon. This is also where a fork temperature probe comes in handy. The pork loin can also be substituted with a beef tenderloin, but you'll have to keep a closer eye on temperature and quick broil the bacon when it gets close to the temperature you want. 

All said, this is an amazing dinner recipe. Not hard to make, and absolutely delicious! The bacon gravy is also wonderful on fries or in poutine.

Marinade:
1/2 cup blackberries, crushed and seeded (seedless blackberry jam is acceptable - about 5 tbsp.)
1/4 cup white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, brand not important)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
6 cloves of garlic, crushed

Roast:
2 pork tenderloins
1 lb. thin sliced bacon

Bacon Gravy: 
3 cups chicken broth
3 tbsp. corn starch
1/4 cup water

Mix marinade ingredients. Place tenderloins in a freezer bag, add marinade and refrigerate for at least two hours (the longer the better.)

Preheat oven to 325° (roast setting, if you have it.)

Overlap the bacon so that it holds the marinade and moisture better.

Remove the loins from the bag and place at the end closest to you. To make them roll even, place the thicker part of each loin at opposite ends. Place some (about 2 tbsp.) of the marinade between the loins. Slowly lift the ends of the bacon and roll the roast, ensuring that the opposite end of the bacon is beneath the roast when you're done rolling.

It should look like this when you're done.

Put the roast on a rack in a roasting pan and place in the oven. Roast, uncovered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. As the bacon appears finished, the loins may well be too. Insert the probe at the thickest point. It should read at least 145°F (73°C). Let the roast rest on the cutting board.

Resting nicely.

Remove rack from the pan while hot and add some of the chicken stock. Using a wooden spoon, use the stock to remove the drippings (including the dark chunks - this is where all the flavor is!) Pour the drippings mixture into a small pot. 

Add the remaining stock and cook at medium high. To break down any bacon chunks, you can use an immersion blender while it heats. Mix the water and cornstarch together.

As the gravy begins to bubble, stir in the cornstarch, a little at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. Remove from heat.

Slice the roast into desired serving size and spoon gravy onto the roast. Serve with herb roasted potatoes (recipe coming!) and choice of veggie. Enjoy! 

Potato and leek soup

Potato and Leek Soup with Bacon and Mushrooms

I like potato and leek soup, but I decided to kick it up a bit, give it some texture and that good smoky flavor that comes with bacon. I made this last night, and it was really good. For this recipe I used dried spices though. Hope you like it as well!

2 lbs. of small red potatoes
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
3 quarts of chicken stock (I use the boxed liquid stock)
2 cups vegetable stock
3 leeks
1 pound of hickory smoked bacon
1/2 cup half and half
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tbsp. parsley
2 tbsp. fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano (the real cheese, it makes a difference)
dash marjoram
dash sage
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. coarse sea salt
1 tbsp. coarse black pepper

Cut potatoes into roughly 1" chunks and boil in lightly salted water. Cook the bacon to reasonable crispness, then set aside to cool. Cut up the leeks (white and light green part only) and wash them. (Separate the rings of the leeks in a colander and run them under water.)

Once boiled, drain the potatoes and place them back in the pot. Add two quarts of chicken stock and place pot on medium heat. Using an immersion blender, puree the potatoes (if you don't have an immersion blender, put them in a standard blender and do it that way. You may have to do it in several loads.) Add mushrooms,wine, and remaining stocks to the puree. Add Parmigiano, bay leaf and other spices. Cook on medium-low for about twenty minutes.

Sautee the leeks in the same pan the bacon was cooked in, till just softened. Chop bacon and add it to the soup. Add leeks and half and half, stirring it in slowly. lower heat and simmer for about fifteen minutes. Serve.

Cook time: approximately an hour and a half

Serves 6...well.